Last week a man died in Manchester city centre. I know because I heard it happen.

I live in the Northern Quarter, and area known for its pubs, bars, restaurants, fashion and shopping amongst other things. My apartment is less than a minute away from the Manchester Arndale shopping mall where the man died last Friday, July 6th.

In the morning my wife and I walked past the Arndale and saw the main street (High Street) next to it blocked off by police, diverting traffic and bocking the route of the city's Metrolink tram. As it was raining we just concentrated on walking as fast as we could. Five hours later we came back the same way and things were still blocked off.

The crowd was bigger, people speculating about things and we looked around to see what we could before deciding to go home. And then we heard a noise, similar to a gun shot, though not as loud but still dramatic given the police involvement. I thought there was a siege or a robbery gone wrong but it wasn't that. Then people started to say someone had jumped. And someone had.

I'm still relieved that I hadn't directly seen it happened or the aftermath that and more importantly that my wife hadn't. We sped up because my wife still didn't realise what had happened and I waited to tell her when we got home. Some six weeks previously a similar thing happened but police were able to talk a woman down but not this time.

Their has been very little written up on this since it happened - and I have looked - quite possibly to respect the man's family's wish for privacy but some of those that were there will never forget.

Rioting in Manchester

Whilst London burned on Monday those living outside the capital wondered if the rioting would escalate and spread to the rest of the country. And it did. I live in the Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre and last night rioting/looting took place in the city where I live. At various points in the evening they ran past the area where my apartment is though thankfully caused no damage. From what I could see around 90% of them were under sixteen but there were adults who are basically career criminals amongst them.


The damage and trouble was not as bad as that in London over the past few days thankfully but today Manchester wakes up to a ransacked city centre hoping that the worst is over and that it never happens again. Attention turns to why it happened, how to prevent it happening again and why the hell the police couldn't stop a whole lot of what was going on.


I woke up and went for a coffee today and had a walk round the immediate area where I live. Thankfully there is not one single window smashed or any sign of damage as people go about their daily life and hope for normality but walk a minute or two nearer the city centre and that is not the case as shops were looted, windows smashed and places set on fire. I still feel safe as does my wife though I am disgusted that this has happened and also that more people weren't arrested at the time and police didn't prevent more damage. People are asking themselves is this the end?